What hardships would Moses successor likely face?  How would anointing a successor before Moses dies help to avoid these problems?

Who was your "Moses"?  What problems arose when "Joshua" succeeded that person as your spiritual leader?  How could those problems have been avoided using this passage?

For whom are you a "Moses" or a "Joshua"?  How will you prepare for "the inevitable"?

(Deut. 13:1-3)
"If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, 'let us follow other gods' (gods you have known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.  The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul."

New ideas from inspiring people may sound good, but we must judge them by whether or not they  are consistent with God's Word.  When people claim to speak for God today check them in these areas:  Are they telling the truth?  Is their focus on God?  Are their words consistent with what you already know to be true?

The temptation to abandon God's commands often sneaks up on us.  It may come not with a loud shout but in a whispering doubt.  And whispers can be very persuasive, especially if they come from loved ones by pouring out our hearts to God in prayer and by diligently studying his Word.

How does falsehood among religious teachers, family members, or a whole community apply today?  Is one a source danger for you?  How so?  What can you do about it?

The Better Church

No church is easy to manage.  It is subject to all the problems that beset small organizations plus those that can, and often do, arise when people try to work together.

The questions in this checklist are designed to help church leaders view the management practices of their church.  The comments that follow each question are intended to stimulate thought rather than to include the many and various aspects suggested by the  questions.

1.  Is leader's time used on high-priority tasks?  Yes No

It should not be dribbled away in routine tasks that can be done as well, if not better, by others.  You may want to run a check on how your time is used by keeping a log for the next several weeks.  Then review your notes and note areas for improvement.  You may want to ask your key personnel to run the same sort of check on their time.

2.  Do you set goals and objectives? Yes No

 Goals should be specific, realistic, measurable, time-phased, and written.

3.  Do you have written policies.  Yes No

4.  Is planning done to achieve these goals and objectives?  YesNo

In a sense, planning is forecasting.  If there are key trainees who can provide input into the planning, ask them  to become involved in it.

5.  Do you test or check the realty of your goals and plans with others?  Yes No

Outside advisers may spot "bugs" that you and your people did not catch in the press of working through the details of goal setting and planning.

6.  Are operations reviewed on a regular basis?  Yes No

Determine the frequency of your reviews and place a tickler on your calendar to remind you of these review dates.

7.  Is your leadership reviewed regularly with the objective of improving it?  Yes No

8.  Do you  ask outside advisers for their opinions and suggestions on theology and procedures?  Yes No

Outside persons, of leaders and management personnel from other religious personnel, can help you see the facts about your theology and operating procedures.  They can provide the fresh viewpoint of persons who are not so involved as you and your key personnel.  Board members can make valuable contributions.

9.  Are reach-out and evangilization policies reviewed periodically?  Yes No

The best church in the world can run into trouble if reach-out and evangilization policies are not right for it.  Periodic checks can help you to  be aware of changes that may be taking place.  Can you still meet the requirements of your members by using your traditional approaches.

10.  Are there periodic reviews of financial reports?  Yes No

11.  Do you have an organization chart?  Yes No

12.  Do you use job descriptions for your key personnel?  Yes No

Provides a clear understanding of what is to be done and by whom, when volunteers are involved.  Spelling out duties may not prevent conflicts between you and others, but such detail can help you resolve misunderstandings, if and when they occur.  In addition when and if a key person leaves the job description is a helpful tool in recruiting and training a replacement.

13.  Do you periodically compare performance of key personnel with their job description?  Yes No

Periodic performance checks, helps your key personnel to be efficient.  It also helps to pinpoint weak spots for you and them to work in for improvement.

14.  Do you provide opportunities for key personnel to grow?  Yes No

Your aim should be to help key personnel stay alert to knew and more efficient ways to do things.  Rotating job assignments is a way to make key personnel aware of the problems their counterparts face.

15.  Do you face the issue when key personnel stop growing?  Yes No

It may be the result of not matching personnel and the job.

16.  Are there policies and plans for motivating staff?  Yes No

Your aim should be to help key personnel stay alert to know and more efficient ways to do things.  Rotating job assignments is a way to make key personnel aware of the problems their counterparts face.

17.  Is there lack of communication among key personnel?  Yes No

Do key personnel refrain from expressing disagreement with you?

18.  Do your plans include self-development projects for yourself?  Yes No

19.  Are there plans for succession in the event of the untimely death of a key person?  Yes No

20.  Have you had a spiritual retreat recently?  Yes No

Records - How Long to Hold On

Auditors' reports-Indefinitely
Bank reconciliations-1 Year
Bank statements and deposit slips-3 years
Chart of Accounts-Indefinitely
Checks-canceled-payroll and general-7 years
Expense reports-5 years
Financial statements-end of year-Indefinitely
Vouchers-for payments to vendors, etc-8 years
Corporate Bylaws, charter, minute books-Indefinitely
Deeds-Indefinitely 
General Coirrespondence-1 year
Legal and Tax-Indefinitely
Insurance Policies-4 years
Employment applicaations-3 years
Purchase orders-3 years
Invoices-3 years

Decision Making

The following seven-step approach to better decision making can be used to study nearly all problems faced.

1.  State the Problem

A problem first must exist and be recognized.  What is the problem and why is it a problem?  What is ideal and how do current operations vary from the ideal?  Identify the symptoms (what is going wrong) and the causes (why is it going wrong).  Try to define all terms, concepts, variables, and relationships.

2.  Define the Objectives.

Which objectives are the most critical?

3,  Decide what methods are going to be used, what kinds of information are needed and how and where the information is to be found.

What are the assumptions (facts assumed to be correct) of the study?  What are the criteria used to judge the study?  What time, budget, or other constraints are there?

4.  Collect and Analyze the Data.

What does the data reveal?  What facts, patterns, and trends can be seen in the data?

5.  Generate Alternate Solutions.

Rank them in order of their net benefits.

6.  Develop an Action Plan and Implement.  

Select the best solution to the problem but be certain to understand clearly why it is best, that is how it achieve the objectives.  Then develop an effective method (action plan) to implement the solution.

7.  Evaluate, obtain Feedback, and Monitor.

Homework

Self-Portrait

"Who am I?" is not simply a question asked by adolescents searching for their identity.  It is a question we all ask ourselves throughout our lives.

Our response to that question includes how we view ourselves and how others view us.  We are influenced by the ways in which our parents, our friends, and our colleagues or peer's see us.  Their comments and opinions are informative.  But their accuracy depends on how much we reveal ourselves to them.  Few of us walk around with all of our walls down.  Few of us allow others to see both our public selves and our private selves.  Many of us act one way in public (out in the open), and differently by ourselves (or within the walls of our homes).

Our society in the 1980s and 1990s had been obsessed with the idea of introspection.  The self-awareness field extends from scientific analytical personality profiles to discovering our colors.  Self-discovery can be a fulfilling experience.  But it can also be scary.  What happens if we look inward and we don't like what we find?  The important missing factor is looking inward with God.

We will take a journey inward--discovering who we are in the light of Scripture.  We will look at our self-image, our values, our personality, and our hang-ups.  We will discover what we believe, what we fear, and what we hope for in our lives.

As we take an in-depth look at ourselves, let us remember that God has created us in his image.  In the following gospel story, Jesus uses a parable to show how a position of privilege can lead to a distorted perspective of spiritual reality.  If Jesus were teaching the parable today, he might say, "Your outward actions reflect your heart's desire."

Read the following Scripture.  This parable (from Luke's Gospel) is about God's kingdom, which is given to a far different group of people than the ones who were traditionally thought to have earned it.  It stresses the attitude of repentant humility as a requirement for being right with God.  

Read Luke 18:9-14

1. Which person would you feel closer to if this incident occurred in front of your church, and the two people were your age?

2. Why would you feel close to the person you chose in question 1?

3. How many of your problems would you share with these people?

4. Why do you think the Pharisee acted the way he did?

5. Why do you think the tax collector acted the way he did?

6. How much of the Pharisee or the tax collector do you see in your own life?  Put a percentage (%) for each, so the two add up to 100%.

7. In all honesty, how do you view yourself right now?

8. What is Jesus teaching you through this parable?

9. What motivated you to come to this course?

10. What are some goals or expectations you have for this course?

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